Do you want to discover where the legendary Achilles was born?

Come with us and have an experience you’ll never forget!

Dear friends, As part of our new eco-tourism activities, we are happy to announce our new mythological-cultural activity. It will start from Des Roses Hotel in Platanias, South Pelion.

We will be driving for 30 minutes with our own cars towards Theotokos beach in Liry, where we will visit Sipiadas’s archaeological findings, including mosaics constructed around 1150BC

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Moreover, we will visit the tiny 18th century church of Theotokos.

According to Greek mythology, the 12 Olympian gods had chosen this beautiful hideout for their summer holidays, but also for interacting with humans, especially renowned Kings of neighboring Greek ancient cities. In historical terms, Mount Pelion is mostly known for the famous Centaurs, Hippocrates (father of medicine), and other mythical figures.

According to Greek myths, King Pileas from Volos (ancient Iolkos), had been chosen by Zeus to marry the immortal goddess Thetis. However, Thetis could not accept the idea of being married to a mortal man. After the end of the Argonautical Expedition, which had started from Volos’s port and stopped temporarily at Platanias due to lack of wind, Pileas returned to Greece and kept searching for goddess Thetis in Pelion.

Therefore, she had to transform herself into fire, water or a tree to get away from him. In order to avoid captivity she was transformed into cuttlefish (sepia) and disappeared into the Aegean Sea.

That’s why the area was named Sipiada from the ancient Greek word sepia, which means cuttlefish. Eventually, although she continuously tried to escape from Pileas, she got trapped by him in a sea cave. After visiting Theotokos’s beach we will stop at Mourtias’s beach, which was ranked 4th amongst the most beautiful beaches in terms of natural wild scenery. There you will have enough time to take lots of impressive panoramic photos.

The third part of our activity will continue in Thetis’s atmospheric sea caves. We will walk along a narrow footpath of 200m in order to reach Aradakia beach. There you will relax, swim and we will enter the firstcave.

The myth says that inside those caves, Thetis was retransformed into a woman. After falling in love with Pileas, Achilles, the legendary hero of the Trojan War, was then born in Pelion!

They got married in North Pelion by the presence of the Olympian Gods. While Achilles was still a baby, his mother Thetis tried to make him immortal by dipping him into a spring. Still, he was left vulnerable at the part of the body by which she held him, his heel.

After the end of our natural-historical activity, which will last about 3 hours, we will safely drive you back to Des Roses Hotel where you will be offered light snacks and fresh homemade lemonade complete with ice and mint.

For safety reasons you must bring with you trekking shoes, water and a walking-stick, if possible. Our tour guide will provide you walkie-talkies for recreational and safety reasons. In addition, a medical tool kit will be brought by our staff. If you suffer from injuries or any other health problems, please inform us before participating to the activity.

The price per person is 12€. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us via email or telephone.